Hip-hop mogul Jay Z proved to be the perfect neighbour during superstorm Sandy by purchasing a generator to provide electricity to his whole apartment building as power went out across downtown New York.

The Empire State of Mind hitmaker and his wife Beyonce live in a $7 million (£4.4 million) penthouse in Manhattan's trendy Tribeca district, but they were left in the dark last week (beg29Oct12) following an explosion at a local power plant.

Jay Z took his wife and their baby daughter Blue Ivy to seek refuge in a luxury hotel uptown, but he didn't forget about his neighbours and purchased a huge generator to provide other residents in his block with a much-needed temporary power supply, according to the New York Post's Page Six column.

The generous gesture helped locals cope until electricity was restored to the area early on Saturday (03Nov12).